Mathman started a great thread about the Finnstep in The Edge. These posts have the most technical material about the SD, pattern dance judging, & the Finnstep; I copied them into Reference and made this thread.

Thanks Mathman!

Here's R&K, dancinger their Quickstep OD, that was the prototype for the Finnstep, which I believe is from a French gangster movie called "Borsalino" named after a hat company that made fedora hats.

Pattern Dance Element is not interrupted more than 4 beats in total, either through Stumbles, Falls or any other reason
AND
1 Key Point is correctly executed

For level 3

Pattern Dance Element is not interrupted more than 4 beats in total, either through Stumbles, Falls or any other reason
AND
2 Key Points are correctly executed

For level 4

Pattern Dance Element is not interrupted at all, either through Stumbles, Falls or any other reason
AND
3 Key Points are correctly executed

To get credit for a key point, the step(s) involved must be executed exactly as described in the rules. If this is true, you will see a Y for that key point on the protocol. If not executed correctly, you will see an N for that key point

If the step is done correctly, but not on the correct beat of the music, the key point is not completed for the purpose of assigning a level, and you will see a T (for timing fault) for that key point.

Note from the rules, even if the key points are judged correctly completed, including being on the correct beat of the music, the team will not earn a level 4 unless all the other steps are done.

SD rhythm options for Seniors are:
- Quickstep
or
- Quickstep plus one or two of the following Rhythms: Foxtrot, Charleston, Swing.
The Pattern Dance Elements must be skated on the Quickstep Rhythm, in the style of Quickstep. The Tempo of the music throughout the Pattern Dance Elements must be constant and in accordance with the required Tempo of the Pattern Dance Finnstep, i.e. 52 measures of two beats or 104 beats per minute, plus or minus 2 beats per minute.

The dance, for a CD is challenging, particularly the timing. P&C will have a relatively even playing field. Only teams who were at 2009 Europeans or 20090 4cc'S OR some of the European nationals in the 2008 - 2009 season have competed this dance.

Thanks for that instructive video on the Finnstep. I am sure it will have enough difficulty for ice dancers to please most critics. (I posted this info in Fan Fest area) DWTS pro Derek Hough revealed that he will be doing choreo for Davis/White on a program for Sochi. Good bet that this will be the SD.

And, if I understand well the rules, the twizzle has to be exactly of 1 revolution and a half (a very unusual move), not more, so I think that we will see a lot of levels 1 and 2 for excellent finnesteps because one of the partners has performed a twizzle that had more (or less) than 1 1/2 revolutions right? For skaters who usually have to perform 5/6/7-revolutions twizzles this will be incredibly difficult to perform at the level of perfection that the key-points judging system requires...

And, if I understand well the rules, the twizzle has to be exactly of 1 revolution and a half (a very unusual move), not more, so I think that we will see a lot of levels 1 and 2 for excellent finnesteps because one of the partners has performed a twizzle that had more (or less) than 1 1/2 revolutions right? For skaters who usually have to perform 5/6/7-revolutions twizzles this will be incredibly difficult to perform at the level of perfection that the key-points judging system requires...

I think it was a mistake for the ISU to require both Finnstep sequences to be skated one after the other, rather than allowing transitions between, and other elements to be inserted between. It gives all the SD programs an unfortunate sameness about them.